MakerBot recently released two new 3D printers, the Replicator 2 and the Replicator 2X. Pettis and I spoke at length about the state of the company and that of the 3D printing industry.

Pettis’ company has shipped some 15,000 Replicators since launching the first models at CES last year and has more on backorder. Its Thingverse site, where users can share designs of 3D objects that they can print out at home, now features some 36,000 designs, 6,000 of which were uploaded to the site by users within the last 90 days. The Brooklyn-based company now employs 160 people and has moved into real offices, Pettis said.

More importantly, the company is attracting some pretty high-profile customers. Among the designs uploaded to Thinkverse is a model of a Ford V-6 engine block posted by the car company. Another apparently enthusiastic backer: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Pettis said that at CES, JPL representatives stopped by MakerBot’s booth to meet with him. They recently had to prototype a heat shield for one of their space craft and it cost them $5,000 just to make it. To make a second one, JPL bought a MakerBot, the organization’s representatives told Pettis.

This 3D printing is really exploding into mainstream.
It has obviously been great for sharing conceptual models and prototypes with clients.
But also in the shop – printing of parts that we’re waiting for delivery on. Use these printed models for mocking-up and layout of frames, brackets, etc.
It’s definitely time we look more seriously at the equipment out there on the market,
-Andrew, producracy.com